


Left Behind

by plutosrose



Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Scene, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Left for Dead, Mind Control, Missing Scene, References to Canonical Character Death, Secret Prisons, The Dai Li (Avatar), compliant with Zuko joining fire nation, no. 31, whumptober2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:09:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26975665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plutosrose/pseuds/plutosrose
Summary: While looking for the Avatar's bison, Zuko finds Jet.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948822
Kudos: 23
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Left Behind

Once, when Zuko was very young, his father had taken him to visit a Fire Nation prison in the side of a mountain. He couldn’t remember very much about why his father had brought him there, but he had a few guesses as to why he would have wanted him to see one of the places where the Fire Nation broke its enemies--body and spirit in their entirety.

The Dai Li's secret prison was less obvious in its brutality. While his father liked to hide prisons in mountains, there wasn’t a soul in the entire Fire Nation that didn’t know that they were there. This prison was hidden underneath the city, with a yawning entrance in a warehouse at the edge of the city. There were no wars or prisons in Ba Sing Se.

But it was, as it happened, the only place in the city that could conceivably hold a flying bison and not be discovered. Zuko drew his swords as he wandered through the cold, cavernous halls of the underground base. He did not want to meet any of the Dai Li, but he was willing to fight them if he had to. He had let himself get distracted--had let himself fall into another life entirely. He wouldn’t do that anymore. He would draw the avatar out into the open, and his bison would be the key.

Each heavy wooden door that he forced open lead to more empty rooms. After the third empty room, he was beginning to feel anxiety prickle at the back of his neck. What if the Dai Li had cleared everyone and everything out? What if he’d gone down here for nothing? What if he lost the last real lead that he’d had over the past three years?

He swore under his breath as he rounded a corner. He could hear voices echoing down the hall, and although he was prepared to meet a fight head-on, he also didn’t want to fight if he didn’t have to. 

He ducked and crouched low, staying just out of sight in the shadows. 

“Leave him,” he heard a member of the Dai Li say to another. “He’s not going to be able to make it very far, and he might be useful if they come here for him.”

Zuko squinted through the darkness. Vaguely, he could make out the shape of a boy, sagging against the wall.

“It is possible that the Avatar will come here to try and find his bison,” said the other Dai Li agent. “Everything must be perfect before the takeover, and he won’t go to waste if he’s down here, waiting for them.”

Zuko gritted his teeth. There was something deep in the pit of his stomach that told him Azula was responsible, that she was somehow behind this ‘takeover.’ He tried as hard as he could to force himself to believe that there was nothing at play besides Earth Kingdom politics. Because after all, he had no role to play in the squabbles that took place in the halls of power in Ba Sing Se.

“We’ll come back,” the other man nodded. “Maybe Long Feng knows something about where the Avatar is headed next. If not here, we can move him.” 

Once the two men left, he crept closer, swords in hand as he approached the figure. He didn’t have much of a plan to be honest--frankly, he had kind of hoped that he would be able to interrogate whoever they left behind, but if they were a prisoner, it was debatable how useful the information would be to him.

When he got close enough and could properly see who it was, he furrowed his brow.

“Jet?”

Jet looked a lot different than the last time that he’d seen him. It seemed like the life had deflated out of him, and he was looking up at Zuko like he had never seen him before. 

There had been a point where Zuko would have been happy to see Jet disappear forever, so that him and his Uncle could live out quiet lives away from the Fire Nation, but there was something about the way that Jet was sitting against the wall that made something prickle underneath Zuko’s skin. This wasn’t the Jet who had stolen from the gluttonous and overly privileged sea captain, nor was this the Jet who had challenged him to a fight in the streets of Ba Sing Se to try and get him arrested.

Jet licked his lips and stared up at him through hooded eyes. “Are you Zuko?” 

“Yeah.”

He wasn’t sure why he’d said yes. It was probably stupid to, but the way that Jet was looking at him now, wide-eyed and chewing on nothing, didn’t make him think that he was that much of a threat. 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he murmured, “I’m looking for the Avatar and his friends, do you think that you could help me find him?”

Zuko took a healthy step backward and kept one of the swords in his hands outstretched. Uncle had always told him that he should never draw his swords unless he intended to use them. Although Jet appeared defenseless, the robotic way that the words came out of his mouth put him on guard immediately.

“I’m not helping you find anything. Stand down before this goes any further.” 

He kept his voice calm and level, but Jet seemed to show no indication of understanding what it was that he’d said to him. It was as though the Dai Li agents had put him on some kind of loop. 

“Are you Zuko?” he asked again, peering at him in the darkness. 

“This isn’t right,” Zuko gritted out to himself. His resolve to leave Jet down in the tunnels of the Dai Li's prison was wearing thin. “Jet, this isn’t you.”

“I’m trying to find the Avatar and his friends. Can you help me?”

Zuko took another step back as Jet took a step forward, pressing himself into the tip of the sword, as though he didn’t realize it was there. “Can you help me, please?”

For a moment, Zuko thought about abandoning his search for the Avatar’s bison, and instead dragging Jet out. The Dai Li probably wouldn’t even miss him, either. They’d clearly left him here to die on the off-chance that the Avatar might find this prison and might find him too. He and his Uncle would be able to help Jet. They might have even been able to keep him out of trouble completely. Give him a job at the tea shop and a second chance at life in the city.

Jet reached for him then, eyes wide and bulging, grinning too widely. “You’re my friend, right, you can help me, right?” 

Zuko shoved him away as quickly as he could, and Jet landed in an undignified heap, as though none of his joints worked if someone wasn’t pulling the strings anymore. 

“Zuko,” he murmured quietly, gasping on air. “Help me.”

Zuko looked back at him, wild almost as adrenaline coursed through his veins. He couldn’t stay here, he thought. He would look for the bison, and if it wasn’t here, then he would disappear again. Go back to the life that he had. But if it was here, everything could change for him.

He couldn’t let Jet stand in the way of that.

He raced down the hall, and as he went further and further, Jet’s voice echoed after him. _ZUKO, HELP ME!_

He let out a shaky breath and tried not to blame himself for leaving Jet for dead just like the Dai Li agents had. 

This wasn’t idle guilt, either. Something told him, as Jet’s cries grew more and more distant, that this would be the last time that he saw him alive. 

Yeah, it would be.

And it was.


End file.
